Cast-steel hopper for hopper-bottom cars



H. PLANDERSON.

CAST STEEL HOPPER FOR HOPPER BOTTOM CARS.

Feb. 19

SHEET 1.

2 SHEET FILED APR; 8, I922.

Feb. 6, 1923.

H. P. ANDERSON.

CAST STEEL HOPPER FOR HOPPER BOTTOM CARS.

FILED APR.8,19Z2. I

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Feisc d 6/ Maw/arm J? m zwemsan sh fts. Patented Feb. 6, teas. am es a?entree stares earienr HOWARD P. ANDERSON, ST. LOUIS, 1VIISSOURI.

CAST-STEEL HOPPER FOR, HOPPER-BOTTOM CARS.

Application filed April 8, 1922. Serial No. 550,772.

To all w/mm it may (once/'21.: sembled with the car body proper aftercom Be it known that I. Howaao l. Axnnnsox. pletion of the latter. acitizen of the Fnited States. residing at In the accompanying drawings,which Saint Louis. Missouri. have invented a cerillustrate selectedembodiments of my intain new and useful Improvement in C-astvention,

Steel Hoppers for Hopper-Bottom Cars. of Figure l is a longitudinalsection through which the following is a full. clear and exa hopperbottom ear equipped with a cast act description. such as will enableothers steel hopper of my improved construction. skilled in the art towhich it appertains to Figure 2 is a transverse section through a makeand use the same. reference being had half of the car takensubstantially on line 60 to the acconnmlrving drawings. forming part 2-2of Figure 1. of this application. Figure 3 is a longitudinal sectionthrough My invention relates to railway rolling a hopper car equippedwith my integral stock and in particular to those cars which hoppers.

are adapted to discharge their load through Figure 4 is a transversesection taken sub- 65 a hopper. either by gravity as in a hopperstantially on line 4-4. of Figure 3. car or by gravity and manual laboras in a The car shown in Figure 1 is provided hopper bottom car. It hasbeen customary with the usual center sills 1. side sills 2, sides incars of this type to build the hopper into 3. and cross beams 4. Thehopper is formed the car. uniting the parts of the hopper to by aone-piece casting comprising the in- 70 the framing of the car duringthe assembly clined bottoms or ends 5. vertical side walls of thelatter. Any defect or irregularity in 6 which are offset at 7 and S toapproach the any of the parts of the hopper or in the body side wall 3and center sill 1. respecadjacent parts of the car body would be tively.The inner side of the hopper is prolikely to interfere with the fittingof the hopvidedavith an attaching flange 9 and the 75 per door and thefunctioning of the hopper ends of the hopper are provided withattachdoor operating mechanism. .ing flanges 10. Thehopper doors ll mayIn the event of any injury to the hopper. be cast also or of structuralsteel. and in it has been difficult to replace a portion of eitherinstance reinforced by structural 3O thehopperor the entire hopperwithout submembers 12. I prefer to form the hinge 80 stantiallydisassembling the car framework butts 13 for the door integral with theinadjaceut to the hopper. ()wing to the loclined ends 5. cation of thehopper and the work which it. The. hopper operating mechanism may be isrequired to perform as well as the proof any suitable type. and Iillustrate an O1- vision of doors and operating mechanism, it dinarywinding shaft 14: provided with a 85 is desirable that the hopperstructure should ratchet- 15 and pawl 16 and door operating be as rigidand unyielding as possible. The chain 17 running over a sheave 18.provision of substantial structural stiffening It will be noted thatthis formation of the members in the close clearances of railway hopperprovides a unitary structure which cars is often difficult withoutcuttingdowu may be assembled before being applied to so the area of thehopper or increasing the the car and providing the proper fitting oflengthof the distance between trucks. Any doors 11 and insuring therebyrigidity to change in the construction or dimensions of take care of thestrains which may be apthe car body has generally necessitated re pliedto the hopper. In the car shown, the

designing the hopper part-s accordingly. hopper illustrated will beduplicated upon 95 The object of my invention is to eliminate theopposite side of the car and the members the above-mentioneddisadvantages and I ac- 12 are preferably extended across the carbecomplish this object by providing a unitary neath the center sills tounite the doors in hopper assembly preferably formed from a both hopers.

one-piece casting and adapted to be as In the oppe'r car shown inFigures 3 and .100

4, the car is of the spaced side sill type and the hopper extendssubstantially across the full width of the car but is duplicated onopposite sides of the longitudinal center of the car and the hopperdoors are positioned in the inclined inner ends of the hopper. In thiscar the hopper is carried by the side sills 19 and the lower parts ofthe inclined ends 20 of the car body. The hopper is also secured to thecar sides 21. Each of the hoppers is an integral casting provided withprojections 22 forming hinge butts, oflset side walls attaching flanges2- and 25 and integral stiffening ribs The doors 27 are also cast andprovided with integral stiffening ribs 26 and binge butts 29. Thesehoppers, like those illustrated in Figures 1 and 2, may be equipped withtheir doors 27 and assembled. as complete units, wit-h the remainder ofthe car body. Suitable ribbed openings 30 are formed in the hopper sidesfor the insertion of pokers or steam pipes and each is provided with apivoted cover 31. Such hoppers may be made as rigid as desired Withoutany likelihood of interfering with necessary clearances. In suchstructures the metal may be disposed as desired and, therefore, suchstructures not only possess greater inherent strength for a given weightthan the hoppers previously constructed, but add considerably to therigidity of the car body, bracing the latter at one of its weakestpoints. ariations in the width or length of the car body may beaccommodated by corresponding variations in the pattern for the hoppercasting.

I contemplate the usual modifications in the commercial development ofmy invention without departing from the spirit thereof, as expressed inthe following claims.

I claim:

1. In a hopper for railway cars, a onepiece casting comprisingrelatively inclined bottom walls, vertical side walls, and door hingebutts.

2. In a hopper bottom railway car, a hopper comprising an inclinedbottom, side walls, attaching flanges, and stiffening ribs, all castintegrally.

A hopper bottom railway car comprising a car body of structural steel,and a cast steel hopper having a discharge chute of substantiallysmaller horizontal area than the floor area of said body and havingintegral offset sides adapted to be secured to the sides of said body.

4. In a hopper bottom railway car, a side wall, a center sill, and aonepiece cast hopper located below and between said side and sill andhaving integral portions extending upwardly and outwardly to engage saidside and sill, and doors mounted on said hopper.

5. In a railway car, a one-piece cast hopper for railway cars comprisinginclined bottom walls. and vertical side walls ofi'set to engagedisaligned portions of a car framing.

6. A hopper bottom railway car comprising a car body of structuralsteel, and a rigid onepiece cast hopper with doors and (1001' operatingmechanism mounted thereon and adapted to be applied to said body as aunit.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aifix my signature this 1st day'ofApril, 1922.

HOWARD P. ANDERSON.

